Republican Congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania has announced plans to retire at the end of this term

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Updated: 11:38 PM EDT Oct 4, 2017

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WEBVTT BEAU?REPORTER: YES, JANELLE, MIKE,PEOPLE ARE NOW CALLINGREPRESENTATIVE TIM MURPHY'SBRAND TOXIC AFTER THAT BOMBSHELLREPORT COMING OUT YESTERDAY,ALLEGING THAT HE TEXTED HISMISTRESS TO GET AN ABORTION.MURPHY OF COURSE BEING HEAVILYPRO-LIFE.NOW TONIGHT WE LEARNED THAT HEWILL NOT BE SEEKING RE-ELECTIONAT THE END OF HIS TERM, MEANINGTHAT THIS OFFICE WILL SOON BE UPFOR GRABS.THERE'S ALREADY AT LEAST ONEREPUBLICAN PUBLICLY STATINGINTEREST IN MURPHY'S SEAT, ANDTHE COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEECHAIR SAYS SHE'S RECEIVED PHONECALLS FROM FIVE PEOPLE WHO WANTTO RUN FOR THAT 18TH DISTRICTHOUSE SEAT.FIRST LISTEN TO WHAT WE HEARDFROM THAT CHAIR, THAT CHAIRWOMAN, THEN DEMOCRATICCONSULTANT, AND FINALLY FROMFORMER MURPHY CAMPAIGN VOLUNTERSETH JOHNSON, A PRO-LIFEREGISTERED REPUBLICAN.>> I THINK AFTER YESTERDAY'SNEWS WE WERE NOT SURPRISED THATTHE CONGRESSMAN STEPPED DOWN.I FEEL BAD FOR HIM, I FEEL BADFOR HIS FAMILY, AND FOR HISSTAFF.BUT UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, ITHINK HE'S MADE THE RIGHTCHOICE.>> LOOK, THERE ARE A LOT OFDECISIONS THAT HAVE TO BE MADEWHEN YOUR CAREER COMES CRASHINGDOWN ON YOU THIS QUICKLY.I DON'T NECESSARILY BLAME HIM, IMEAN, IF YOU LOOK AT IT HE'LLGET A GOVERNMENT SALARY FOR THENEXT YEAR.SO I'M SURE THAT PLAY IS A BIGPART INTO HIS DECISION.THAT COULD CHANGE IF MOREINFORMATION COMES OUT.>> I THINK HE'S GOING TO HAVEMOUNTING PRESSURE THE LONGER ITWENT ON AND IT WOULD BECOME ADISTRACTION, AND IT JUSTWOULDN'T SERVE HIM OR THEDISTRICT WELL.SO I THINK IT'S WHAT HAD TO BEDONE, SO I'M NOT ENTIRELYSURPRISED.REPORTER: THERE WAS SOMESPECULATION THAT MURPHY RIGHTRESIGN, BUT OF COURSE TODAY

US Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania to retire after reports of affair

Republican Congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania has announced plans to retire at the end of this term

Republican congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania announced Wednesday that he would not run for a ninth term, amid tawdry revelations of an extramarital affair in which the anti-abortion lawmaker urged his mistress to get an abortion when he thought she was pregnant.

Murphy said in a brief statement through his office that he will "take personal time to seek help as my family and I continue to work through our personal difficulties."

Murphy's decision came a day after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published text messages between Murphy and Shannon Edwards.

A Jan. 25 text message from Edwards told the congressman he had "zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options," according to the newspaper.

A text message from Murphy's number in response said his staff was responsible for his anti-abortion messages: "I've never written them. Staff does them. I read them and winced. I told staff don't write any more."

Edwards, it turned out, wasn't pregnant. Murphy recently acknowledged his affair with Edwards, which became public as a result of her divorce proceedings.

The revelation came as the House on Tuesday approved Republican legislation that would make it a crime to perform an abortion after 20 weeks of fetal development. Murphy, a member of the House Pro-Life Caucus, is among the bill's co-sponsors and voted for it.

The Post-Gazette also published a six-page memo apparently written by Murphy's congressional chief of staff and dated June 8, in which she accused Murphy of subjecting his staff members to "threats, hostility, anger and harassment."

Neither Murphy nor his office has commented on the newspaper report.

Murphy is serving his eighth term representing a district in southwestern Pennsylvania, including parts of suburban Pittsburgh. The district is a safe Republican seat, with Republican Donald Trump beating Democrat Hillary Clinton by a margin of three-to-two in last November's presidential election.

“There are a lot of decisions that have to be made when your career comes crashing down this quickly. I don’t necessarily blame him. If you look at it he’ll get a government salary for the next year. But that could change if more information comes out," said democratic political consultant Mike Mikus.

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Mikus worked most recently as chairman of Katie McGinty's 2016 campaign.

“I think after yesterday’s news we were not surprised the congressman stepped down. We feel bad for him, feel bad for his family and feel bad for his staff, but under the circumstances I think he made the right choice," she said.

Seth Johnson is a former volunteer for Murphy's campaign and now lives in Washington D.C. after growing up in Murphy's district in Houston, Pa.

Johnson said he was upset by Murphy specifically, as someone who is pro-life.

“It seems he was going to have mounting pressure the longer it went on and it would become a distraction and it wouldn’t serve him well or the district well. So I think it’s what had to be done so I’m not entirely surprised," Johnson said.